Maruti Suzuki has increased its capital by Rs 5,000 crore for the current financial year

The country’s top carmaker, which allocated around Rs 4,500 crore in FY22, also believes that the investment of the original Suzuki Motor Corporation in Gujarat will help expand its range of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the country.

MSI CFO Ajay Seth said in an analyst call, “The Rs 5,000 crore capex is something we have committed to various projects for this financial year, including the launch of new models and so on.”

The makers of Alto and Swift have mentioned that it will manage the capital through internal revenue, he added.

In response to a question about Suzuki’s plans to invest in Gujarat for local production of battery electric vehicles (BEV) and BEV batteries, Seth said:

“This investment will greatly help localize EV manufacturing and help the company accelerate and expand its BEV product portfolio in India.”

The company plans to launch its first BEV by 2025.

In March, Suzuki Motor Corporation announced an investment of about 150 billion yen (about Rs 10,445 crore) by 2026, for the local production of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and BEV batteries in Gujarat.

Asked about the ongoing semiconductor shortage and its impact on the company, Seth noted that the supply situation for electronic components is going to be unpredictable.

“It could also have a small effect on the volume of production in FY 2022-23,” he added.

MSI currently has a backlog of over 3.2 lakh units due to production problems due to acute shortage of chips.
“Usually chips will continue to be a challenge this year and of course we will try to maximize our numbers,” said Rahul Bharti, Executive Director, Corporate Affairs, MSI.

In a question about the hybrid, he mentioned that the technology is extremely powerful which can work together with EV to reduce carbon and oil imports.

“They work about 30-40 per cent of an EV and are many times more scalable. It will be an interesting option and we will look forward to such technology in the future,” says Bharati.

He noted that the company wants to regain more than 50 per cent market share in the domestic passenger car segment.

“Of course, our goal as market leaders is to have a market share of 50 percent or more. Many factors are responsible for this, one is the shortage of semiconductors, with three lakh pending orders if we provide the service the number and market share will be much higher, ”said Bharati.

He noted that the company has a market share of over 65 percent in the non-SUV segment.

“Our market share has grown in every other segment except SUVs. Whenever we launch an SUV, of course, the market share needs to improve, ”said Bharati The company plans to launch multiple products to consolidate its position in the fast-growing SUV segment